Giants steamroll Royals to tie series at two

The San Francisco Giants put on an offensive clinic in their 11-4 win over the Kansas City Royals in game four of the 2014 World Series.

Hunter Pence continued his hot streak, going 3-5 with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored.  Gregor Blanco scored two runs and stole third base in the top of the first.

Blanco scored in the top of the first when Pence grounded out to third base.

The Giants’ lead did not last long, however.  Kansas City tied the game in the top of the third when Eric Hosmer grounded an RBI infield single to first baseman Brandon Belt.

They took the lead when Omar Infante hit a two-run single to center field giving the Royals a 3-1 lead and tacked on another run on an RBI single by Salvador Perez.

San Francisco fought back and added a run in the bottom of the inning when Buster Posey hit an RBI single which allowed Matt Duffy to score from second base.

The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Pence hit an RBI single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Juan Perez.

The next inning, the Giants took a lead they would never relinquish.  Third baseman Pablo Sandoval lined a two-run single to center field to drive in Posey and Blanco.  Belt registered his first hit of the ballgame with an RBI single to follow Sandoval giving the Giants a 7-4 lead by the end of the inning.

The offense did not cool down there as San Francisco added four more runs in the bottom of the seventh.  A misplayed bunt by Blanco, two-run double by rookie Joe Panik, and run scoring double by Pence gave the Giants an insurmountable 11-4 lead.

The Giants recorded sixteen hits in the victory.

Brandon Finnegan took the loss for Kansas City.  The rookie allowed five earned runs to score on five hits in one inning pitched.  Finnegan became the first player to pitch in the College World Series and MLB World Series in the same year as he played for Texas Christian University before this year’s MLB draft.

Yusmeiro Petit earned the win for the Giants in relief.  Petit pitched a solid three innings where he only allowed two hits and struck out two.

San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong only lasted two and two-thirds innings.  He allowed four runs on seven hits before being pulled from the game.

Royals’ starter Jason Vargas pitched four innings.  He allowed three runs on six hits.

Game five will be held in San Francisco tomorrow night at 8 pm.  Team aces James Shields (Royals) and Madison Bumgarner (Giants) will square off in a rematch of game one.